Toil and Trouble
by Heartbringer
Summary: It was supposed to be an ordinary day in the Ghost Zone at the Clock tower. 16 year old Egret was concocting a new potion, when a sudden accident occurred that made the Ghost of Time turn into a 16 year old!


Toil and Trouble

Show: Danny Phantom (which I used to set it in, anyway)  
Rated: T  
Pairings: None.  
Genre: Adventure, friendship, family, and maybe some possible humor.  
Characters: Egret, (teen [16 yrs. old]) Clockwork, Elijah Dark, Himura Mamoru, Jack 'Rabbit' Connors.

Summary: It was supposed to be an ordinary day in the Ghost Zone at the Clock tower. 16 year old Egret was concocting a new potion, when a sudden accident occurred that made the Ghost of Time turn into a 16 year old! Feeling very responsible for her actions, Egret convinced Clockwork to let her fetch the ingredients she needed to get him back to normal. But the catch was, the plants did not exist in the timeline where the brunette currently lived. So, they travelled back nine years to the current Amity Park. But upon arriving, they were met with some old acquaintances of Clockwork. It should have just been an easy 'get in, get out'. But instead, they were unfortunate when two ghost twins got bored and decided to play with them because they were bored. Plus, the GiW got a trail of their ecto signature. Could things get any more worse?

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for Egret and my design for 16 yr. old Clockwork! Elijah, Himura, and Jack, belongs to and friend of mine in DA. AuroraFox.

Chapter 1: Major disaster alert! 16 yr. old Clockwork?!

Ghost Zone

In the Clock tower somewhere in the Ghost Zone, all is well as it should be. Clockwork, the ghost of time busied himself as he observed the different timelines as always. The time ghost smiled as he observed a very particular timeline. The timeline where a certain young halfa with his two best friends, Sam and Tucker. His other friend Valerie or as The Red Huntress, his parents Maddie and Jack Fenton, and lastly his older sister Jazz. They were all working together as they fended off Nocturne and Undergrowth. Clockwork smiled more as he already foresees what will happen. Nothing he had to worry about.

As the time ghost continued, inside a certain room a certain female sixteen year old ghost was in the middle of concocting a new potion with the many ingredients provided by the many wicken books, spells, and potions. Well, spells that the female ghost only knows very little. The only spells he knows of was to disguise herself as a human. But that aside, after Clockwork told her that she has MANA blood flowing within her at the age of ten, least to say she was fascinated. And from that day on, whenever she was not training with Clockwork on her MANA related abilities, or training on fighting with her mentor, Elijah Dark. She would delve herself in different books related from different types of herbs and plants that can either be useful or deadly.

Humming to herself, Egret mashed together a whole ghost pepper with a piece of aloe vera, a slice of ginseng root, two petal leaves from a hibiscus flower, five poisonous berries, four tablespoons of water, a tease spoon of vanilla and cinnamon, and a pinch of powdered night shade within a mortar and pastel. After grinding and mixing and the mixture reaching the consistency she wanted, Egret poured all of the content inside an Erlenmeyer flask. Setting aside the mortar and pastel the teen ghost prepared the tripod and turned on the Bunsen burner, also making sure on placing the wire gauze atop the tripod. So when she will place the Erlenmeyer flask, it won't break. Sealing the flask with a cork stopper with a thermometer, so that she can regulate and watch on how much the temperature she needed.

Leaving it for it to slowly boil, Egret moved on to the next part of her potion. She opened her book which has 'Potions and Elixirs II' on its frontal cover. Opening on the page she needed, the female ghost started to gather her ingredients and materials when a knock came on her door.

"Come in." She called as the female ghost measured the right portion of worms wart and nightshade powder.

"Hello, Egret. Busy as usual, I see." Stated the ghost of time as he entered the girls room. Books and paper loitered some on the floor and many were atop the bed or work desk, and on the bookshelf. Beakers, test tubes, and other material used by modern scientists today are being used for making potions with a splash of science here and there. The said ghost of time floated where the teen was busy with her ingredients on her experiment table.

"You know me, Clockwork. I like to explore new things ever since you told me that I have MANA pulsing through me and that I'm in a long forgotten line of Clerics." She huffed as Egret still concentrated on her experiment.

"And you are still skeptical about the subject." It was not a question when Clockwork pointed it out. Egret nodded still not taking her eyes away from her work.

"Yeah. I'm a ghost. I should be showing ecto-energy than MANA. And that is life energy. As last I recall, I'm already dead."Clockwork slightly winced at that statement.

He frowned. He didn't like the tone that the teen used when it came on the subject. It was particularly dark and it did not fit that she had said it like that. "Careful with that tone of yours, young lady." Clockwork said strictly which made the girl wince.

"Sorry, dad…" Egret said defeatedly. Now, she only uses 'dad' when she really means it. Though they are not truly related because Clockwork had adopted and raised her. "I'm just…angsty, you know. Though you already know that because I'm in my teen years."

The time ghost gave a knowing smile. "So you have been paying attention."

Egret waved a free hand in the air. "Well, duh. You had practically jammed it into my head with all the 'the future is not set in stone, fate cannot be changed, or the tid bit of the whole confliction in the time stream' blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I practically got some of them. Especially the important ones." Chuckling when she poured Arsenic in her mixture.

The time ghost gave her an unamused face before he shook his head. "Not the answer I'd hope for, but close." He chuckled before floating towards the door. "Oh. And when you are finished could you make me those mini blueberry and blackberry pies that you made before?"

Egret paused on what she was doing to turn and raise an amused brow at the time ghost. And couldn't help but smirk when there was a small tint of blue on Clockwork's cheeks as a form of a blush.

Clockwork rubbed his head and has somehow of an embarrassed expression on his face. "I…seemed to have taken a liking to those."

The girl laughed but nodded. "Okay. I'll make some when I'm done." She stated and continued on her work.

The ghost of time thought that he should return to his 'work' as well. So he turned to proceed to the door. But his staff suddenly knocked the Erlenmeyer flask that was under the Bunsen burner. Both occupants gasped as it waddled and tumbled. And before any of them could catch the thing it fell before Clockwork. The reaction caused a blue-ish yellow smoke followed by a small explosion.

"Clockwork!" Egret screamed as he shielded her eyes before she was blown back a few feet into her bookshelf. The books fell on her but was alright.

"Tower!" She coughed as she called the clock towers attention. "Open my bedroom windows, quick!"

As reply the tower groaned before it opened the girls bedroom windows to let the smoke out. She coughed again. "Clockwork?"

Egret started to walk slowly towards the dissipating smoke. As she was getting close enough she heard another series of coughing, but this time it wasn't coming from her. The girl squinted her eyes to see past the smoke and she saw silhouette on the floor in their hands and knees. But she frowned because Egret noticed that the form was way smaller compared to Clockwork. Though it wasn't baby small. As the smoke finally cleared Egret gasped and her eyes wide in disbelief, and she thought that her jaw hit the floor from opening her mouth so wide.

There on the floor in their hands and knees was another teen ghost. Male. But what was more surprising that the teen was somehow the spitting image of Clockwork, only as a teenager. Then it all clicked. This teen was Clockwork!

Bleary red eyes opened and looked at the female. What has she done?

"Egret? What's wrong?" Clockwork asked but then gasped on what his voice sounded. "My voice. What's wrong with it?"

The teen girl ghost grabbed some of her hair. "Oh, this is not good."

TBC


End file.
